Fountain brush



y 1936- s. G. FAIRCHILD ,0 ,173

FOUNTAIN BRUSH Filed Jan. 14, 1935 4 3 W W 4i i H i 7 E to i i] I I l i l: 1; l 1;:

Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATE FOUNTAIN BaUsn Glen e. Fair-child, Toledo, one, minor oi one fourthv to Milton E. Whalem and one-fourth to Harold G; Suter, both of Toledo, Ohio Applicationianuary 14, 1935, Serial No. 1,614

1 Claim. (oi. 15-128) This invention relates to paint brushes and is more particularly directed to self-feeding or fountain brushes.

' It has heretofore been proposed to provide a paint distributing member concealed among thebristles of a paint brush to carry the liquid to points adjacent the tip of the brush so that the paint may be fed near the surface to which it is to be applied. These devices have the disadvantage of unduly spreading the bristles so that the brushes become distorted beyond their natural shape. Further, they have been so much a part of the brush itself that their removal for cleaning purposes was a difflcult matter.

10 The present invention has for its primary object the provision of a liquid distributing member which is readily removable and which is so thin as to cause no distortion of the brush from its natural shape.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a paint distributing member which is of thin,

flexible material so as not to interfere-with the bendingof the bristles in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a liquid'distributing member which is inexpensive to manufacture and simple and efilcient in operation. A

Another object of the invention is the provision of simple and effective means to feed paint to a 30 fountain brush and to control the flowof paint so fed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying draw- 35 ing which discloses two modifications of'the invention and in which- Fig. 1 is a composite view of a brush and a paint tank connected for use; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section, with parts broken away, of a 40 brush inaccordance with Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3- -3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective detail view of a paint carrying conduit; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view with parts in section, of a brush according to Fig. 1; Fig. 6

4 is a perspective detail view of one form of the insert; and Fig. '7 is a central vertical section of a modified form of brush.

Referring to the drawing, in one form an ordinary paint brush having bristles I carried by a 50 handle 2 is shown. The present invention is removably carried as an attachment to the brush.

Paint, or other coating liquid is fed from a tank I by air pressure generated by a pump 5.

The liquid is forced through a flexible hose 6 to 55 points adjacent the brush where the hose is coupied to a pipe I. A spring seated valve 8 controls the liquid flow in the pipe and is adapted to be moved oiif its seat by manual force applied to a finger piece 9 attached atone end to the stem of the valve 8 and bearing against a part of the 5 brush at its other end. Obviously any suitable valve and operating means may be employed as these parts are purely conventional.

The entire fitting is attached to the brush by a bracket l0 having depending arms adapted to 10 straddle a part of the brush handle and fixed thereto by a set screw II.

A conduit i2 extends from the side of the valve housing opposite to the conduit 1 downwardly along a side of the brush to a point adjacent the 13 top of the bristles at one side edge thereof. At this point the pipe is turned inwardly to enter the bristles midway between th fiat sides ofthe brush and is flattened as at iii to t shape shown in Fig. 4, with its bottom side slit open to allow 20 for the free passage of paint along its entire length.

The present invention particularly resides in the provision of a flat, flexible insert 20 for the brush, carried by the flattened portion l3 of the pipe and into which liquid is discharged, to be directed to the tip of the brush. One form of the insert is shown in Fig. 6 and comprises a head portion 20a and a plurality of finger portions 2i preferably formed by stitching two superposed pieces of cloth together, cutting between certain lines of the stitches to form the finger passages. Obviously the finger passages may be formed in various ways depending on the material used for the insert. In some instances, particularly as applied to narrow brushes, it will not be necessary to cut the fingers apart, nor to form more than one paint directing passage. It will be appreciated that the insert must be made of a highly flexible material so as to keep it entirely within the confines of the bristles at all times. Considerable trouble will be caused if this member protrudes from the bristles and directly engages the surface being covered. For this reason it is preferred to make the insert of cloth, such as thin cotton duck, although other thin, pliant material such as rubber may be used.

The head portion 20a. of' the distributing member is slipped over the flattened pipe l3 and held in place by tying or by pinching it under a clip 25. when in position in the brush the outer endof the insert is buried in the bristles a short distance from the outer end of the latter. It will be seen that the insert and pipe constitute a very narrow assembly and will not tend to displace the bristles except to a small extent at the exact point of entrance at the'side. To prevent even this limited distension the clip II isextendedaroundthebristlesoncachsideto hold them together. Thus this member serves to retain both the bristles and the flexible insert member in their proper positions.

lntheiormshowninl'igfilan angularpassage II is formed in the handle of the brush. A flexible insert 4! is fixed to a stub pipe 42, as by ties 48. The pipe is received in the passage 40 at the entrance to the interior of the brush. Thus the insert may be readily removed for cleaning. In this modification the pipe I! is received in the outer end of the passage 40 and serves to hold the entire fitting in place so that the retaining parts previously described may be dispensed with. The valve and its operating mechanism in this form are the same as the parts already described.

In this modification I have shown the finger passages of the insert 4| subdivided as by uniting the sides of the material in lines 44. These lines, which may be stitching, extend back from the ends of the fingers and serve to give a more evenly distributed flow laterally of the brush. Thus, when'a thin liquid is fed to the brush, the streams entering the bristles are greater in number and individually reduced in volume. Any tendency for the liquid to be applied in lines on the surface is thus eliminated.

In operation, assuming the parts are mounted on the brush in the position shown in the drawing. the operator puts pressure on the paint by means of the pump I.' A slight pressure on the finger piece 8 opens the valve 8 and allows paint to flow through the pipe I! and into the small area of the surface to be coated, at which time the valve 8 will be allowed to close and the paint which has been applied will be brushed out smoothly. This operation will be repeated for each area until the entire surface is finished. when it is desired to clean the brush after a job has been completed, the set screw Il may be released and the entire attachment removed from the brush, which may then be placed in turpentine or other cleaning solution. The flexible insert may be readily pulled from under the clip 2| and washed in turpentine or other cleaning fluid to remove all of the paint therefrom and keep the insert in a flexible condition. After the latter is dried, it may be replaced around the flattened portion ll of the pipe and held in position by the clip II.

while the invention has been disclosed in connection with a particular type oi valve and associated parts, I wish' it expressly understood that this disclosure is entirely by way of illustration and that numerous'changes in'the form and disposition of the parts may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A liquid distributing member for insertion within the bristles of a brush, comprising a substan- 25 tially rectangular member formed of two layers of pliant material united at the top and sides thereof, said layers having each a series of parallel spaced slits that extend parallel to the sides of and through the bottoms of the layers the conduit.

v GLEN G. FAIRCHIID. 

